Singlespeed & Fixed Gear"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

Riding at night is really fun actually, not too many cars, no many people. The most important thing is to dress warm and be visible. I've been riding a lot at nice since I got a PDW Radbot rear light, that thing is the bomb, I highly recommend it.

I live right near some cornfields, so sometimes I'll ride a few miles out of town to watch some stars. Since it's getting colder, follow Vixtor's advice and dress warmly. I prefer layers so I can take some stuff off when I get going and get warmed up.

Get some good lights that are visible from a good distance. I like to ride in groups of 3 or so so we make a highly visible cluster with all our lights.

If I ride alone at night (which is most of my riding in the winter when I commute), I stick to side streets mostly. I live in a city that is pretty "permeable"; i.e., you can go in one side of a neighborhood and come out the other and get places by traveling parallel to the main thoroughfares. I've also ridden on the main streets when necessary. As others have said, lights and visibility are important.

__________________I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.

Originally Posted by bragi"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."

A little thing i discovered was that you can generally get more powerful light in the form of a compact flashlight (ex: fenix/cree torches) and just buy or make a simple/cheap mount. I got a Fenix E21 + a $5 mount on ebay which came out to $40 versus $130 for a similar powered bike specific headlight. Any taillight with multiple light patterns works well i think.
Night riding is fun with the right stuff...

I love riding at night, for a while I was doing it exclusively. LA even has a whole bike scene that sprouted from night time group riding, so that's great for me. I just love the cool temps and being the only person around. You just have to be aware of when drunks are most likely to be out and about in their cars, this nearly cost me my life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vixtor

Riding at night is really fun actually, not too many cars, no many people. The most important thing is to dress warm and be visible. I've been riding a lot at nice since I got a PDW Radbot rear light, that thing is the bomb, I highly recommend it.

Riding at night is ridiculous fun. You gotta try it mayng. I'm lucky in that my city is really safe at night; there are a ton of drunks but almost ALWAYS they're just walking/stumbling around, which is a lot of fun to see.

I just returned from a night ride on my new Salsa Casseroll SS, which is equipped with LED headlight and tailight, that I operate in flashing mode, which both makes me most visible and consumes the least battery power. I can still see the road clearly with the headlight in flashing mode. For riding on really dark country roads or off road trails, I have a helmet mounted Lithium ION HID headlight, and carry the nearly 1 lb battery either in a backpack or jersey / jacket with a back pocket. When using the helmet light, the LED tailight is either clipped to the backpack or back pocket. I wear a helmet and shoes that are reflective.

I try to go on a longish night ride at least once a week. There is something infinitely more satisfying about riding at night--sometimes you can get it just right and it seems like you're the only one out winding through the sea of orange streetlights. Mostly, people are indoors and the world is yours. It seems like others in this thread agree. I've also seen some kamikaze driving post-midnight, mostly drunks speeding through stop signs and the like. Don't ever assume a vehicle will stop when you are riding at night--in fact, assume that drivers are drunk, because something like 75% of them are. Still, somehow it's much more comforting to ride on roads with that many fewer drivers.

I live in a college town with like the third largest party school in California. I love riding at night, especially the weekends when everyone is out on their porches and downtown drinking. Sure it's the craziest time to ride, but that also makes it the most fun to me. Just have a bright flashing light on your back so you don't get hit from behind, and I see know difference in safety from the day.
Most the time when i'm out at night, i've been out for a while and don't have my headlamp with me. I don't see a huge need for it. I can see well enough with the moon and whatever streetlights there are. I pretty well have the potholes and speed bumps all memorized, and I prefer cars not to see me from the front. I know what a car is going to do if I'm not there. But if they do see me, I can't know if they will wait, go, creep, speed. A predictable driver is a much safer car.

I also just returned from a night ride with some people I don't know. Super super fun ride at night, not many people are out riding at this time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hairnet

I'd better visit

We're going to ride if you're going to come up to Vancouver. Unfortunately, I don't ride with the Doc...because I live really really really far away from him. Plus, I probably can't even keep up with him.